Trout event has hundreds of kids hooked

Last week, The Beacon told the history of a youth fishing event, which for 30 years has been called

The Trout Extravaganza. The trout come from a Game, Fish and Parks fish hatchery in the Black Hills. The extravaganza part is the bustling activity of families on the shores of the Indian Hills pond for one weekend in May. Trout Extravaganza had another successful year.

About 500 rainbow trout, most weighing about a pound, were caught Saturday and Sunday under special regulations that limit the age of the participant (age 14 and under) and limit the harvest (2 trout). After the weekend, several hundred rainbow trout remain in the pond, which is now open to all ages, and with the State-regulation creel limit of five fish. Please help! Catch trout before pond temperatures become too warm to support this cold-water species.

The event is billed as a way to introduce kids to nature and the sport of fishing. Getting a baited hook and bobber to the middle of the pond is really more than a novice can manage. Just the operation of the fishing-reel thumb-button, which is pressed to allow the line to peel off of the spool, is a mystery to many.

Volunteer pond-side helpers, in yellow Optimist Club vests, helped bait hooks, cast lines, and reel in the catch. Yes, some parents were there to help, but many kids were alone, or with grandparents or parents who were grateful for the pond-side helpers.

Other year-round fish residents of the pond are also caught. It turns out that a six-inch long green sunfish is just as prized by a young beginner as is a bigger rainbow trout. There were lots of pictures taken of proud anglers with a sunfish, or bullhead catfish, or a gold fish. Indeed, several dozen foot-long, bright orange goldfish were quite visible as they schooled in the middle of the pond, perhaps thinking that they hadn’t seen this many people since they were released from the bowl.

The event is supposed to teach kids about fish, and it doesn’t matter what kind of fish is landed. A small bullhead catfish provided a cherished memory for one youthful angler, and for the pond-side helper. A bullhead is a strange-looking fish that may be unfamiliar to the novice. The black compressed body shape of the bullhead is a sharp contrast to the sleek, torpedo shape and silvery color of the rainbow trout.

A small crowd gathered as the pond-side helper showed the bullhead’s flattened head and broad gaping mouth with six catfish whiskers. “A fish has whiskers?” an onlooker exclaimed.

“For feeling the bottom, AND tasting it,” was the reply. The whiskers, lips and head of catfish are covered with external taste buds. Catfish have been called “swimming tongues.”

Most kids would venture to feel the bullhead’s smooth scaleless skin, and a few even dared to touch the sharp spines on the dorsal and pectoral fins. Under the gill cover were the bright red gills, and gill supports with rakers that help filter food from non-food. “Let’s see what this fish has been eating” said the pond-side helper. “Look, he’s going to dissect the fish” came the reply as the group drew closer (Thank you Brookings biology teachers).

As the family departed with cleaned and iced rainbow trout for a Black Hills-type fish dinner, the Mom expressed thanks for the assistance.

However, one of the kids muttered with a gleam in his eye “The bullhead was the best.”

One of the lessons organizers hope to instill in youth is respect for natural resources, in this case, care and respect the catch. Young anglers should know that cleaning and preserving the fish is important. The fish cleaning station was a busy, and entertaining place.

One question that comes up during the fish cleaning is “head-on or head-off.” A traditional, sometimes cultural, method of cooking fish is with the head on the carcass. This point is beyond the interest of the kids, but some fishing parents say that head-on reduces waste and, by-the-way, the best meat is near the head, especially the big cheek muscle that opens and closes the gill covers.

A cooking expert might say that cooking with the fish head-on preserves flavors and moisture. A restauranter might say that the custom of cooking fish with the head-on began to assure a patron of the species being served. Whatever!

Most of the folks at the fish cleaning table didn’t want the plated fish looking back at them.

Thanks for the blessing of good weather and the volunteer, community spirit in Brookings.

The Trout Extravaganza was conceived by guys who envisioned kids riding their bikes to the old fishing hole, with rods and bait buckets balanced on the handle bars.

Well guys, your dream has come true — two dozen or more bikes lay on the grassy hill beside the pond.